Public Services Commission outlines staggered rate investigations, says Waste Management owes assessments

The Virgin Islands Public Services Commission (PSC) told the Senate Committee on Government Operations on March 24 that it plans to stagger a slate of rate and regulatory investigations across the territory in 2025, starting with an electric‑system rate case that will open in early April and addressing water, wastewater and solid‑waste dockets later in the year.

Sandra Satori, executive director of the PSC, said the commission has established several dockets and timelines: docket 706 to review electricity rates (with the formal process beginning April 8), docket 700/706‑series activities for water and wastewater, and dockets 704/708 to investigate solid waste and wastewater rates now that the Waste Management Authority has come under PSC jurisdiction following Act Number 8,471. The PSC said it will stagger investigations so as not to overburden staff and utilities and will engage external consultants for technical assistance where needed.

“Nearly every factor the Legislature required to be addressed in the turnaround management report falls within the commission’s jurisdiction,” Satori said; the PSC said it intends to review the turnaround management consultant Ernst & Young’s final report and incorporate relevant findings into its electric‑rate inquiry so it does not duplicate work. The PSC also noted recently reported federal awards totaling roughly $800 million — including about $660 million targeted at generation projects and roughly $30 million earmarked for metering infrastructure — as material in any rate review.

Assessment disputes and Waste Management Authority

Satori and PSC general counsel Boyd Sprain also addressed a long‑running dispute over whether appropriations count as utility revenues for calculation of PSC assessments. Sprain said the PSC’s reading of the law is that the Waste Management Authority’s argument — that legislative appropriations should be excluded from revenues used to compute assessments — is inconsistent with Title 29 and Act 66‑38, which define revenues to include appropriations. The PSC said Waste Management stopped paying its annual assessment in 2021 and the commission considers the assessment dispute legally resolved in the PSC’s favor; it expects any appeals to be denied.

The PSC further noted that it received no annual assessment payments from WAPA for fiscal year 2024 and none yet for fiscal year 2025. Satori said that regulatory assessments are typically treated as high‑priority obligations by courts in bankruptcy contexts and that the PSC expects utilities to make those payments.

Upcoming investigations and resource needs

Satori said the commission will open the electric rate investigation (docket 706) following its April 8 meeting and will recommend a hearing examiner for that docket. The PSC said it is conducting requests for qualifications to hire technical consultants for solid‑waste, wastewater, electrical and water systems. The commission said it will rely on external technical assistance where it lacks internal capacity and that it hopes to rely on the work already done by turnaround consultants where appropriate.

What to watch next

- PSC docket 706: electric rate investigation beginning April 8; hearing examiner to be appointed. - PSC dockets on wastewater and solid waste to commence summer 2025. - Assessment litigation: PSC expects any appeal by Waste Management over assessments to be dismissed because of statutory language that includes appropriations within the definition of revenues.

Ending

The PSC told senators it has a full investigative agenda and is taking steps now to hire outside expertise; it emphasized coordination with WAPA and the Legislature as investigations proceed and flagged federal funds and the Ernst & Young turnaround report as important inputs to upcoming rate cases.